This Perfect Roast Chicken recipe is a great meal any day of the week. Everyone needs to be able to make one good dinner and this Perfect Roast Chicken is just thing. I have spoken before of the fact that you need to learn how to cook three things in order to survive….one good breakfast, one good lunch and one good dinner. Well this is the dinner. I call it perfect because once you learn this basic recipe you can turn it into so many things and experiment like crazy with it. Roast Chicken is something I can make and be confident of. Everyone is always so impressed and it is really quite easy. Plus you can also make a great chicken soup after, which I will show you later. Once you master the basics, you can get creative. Here is a simple version for you to try….
You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces. Just good food from fresh ingredients
Julia Child
Cooking this the first time was quite traumatic, I am not going to lie. I grew up basically a vegetarian just because looking at raw meat was not for me. So this was a big hurdle, but it is my husbands favorite meal and I wanted to surprise him and learn how to make it. Now I make it all the time in different variations and my family loves it. When they go on sale at the grocery store stock up on them if you can. I usually buy about three when the sales are really good.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the giblets (I have to admit, I did leave these in one time and the whole meal was ruined. I believe more people have done it than they care to admit). Rinse the chicken inside and out. Pat dry with a paper towel. Put the chicken in a heavy duty roaster pan on a rack. Salt and pepper the chicken well, inside and out. Loosen the skin on the breasts and insert some lemon slices under it. Add the remaining lemon (cut up) into the cavity. Rub the softened butter all over the chicken (Messy, but worth it!).
Add some water to the bottom of the pan, (this helps with broth for soup later on). Cook for approximately 2 hours until juices run clear when the leg is cut or pulled on. (Internal temperature should be app. 165 degrees at breast and 175 degrees at thigh).I usually shoot for 170 degrees at the breast, but that is my preference. Let the chicken sit for a bit before cutting into it. Everyone in my family loves this and that is very hard to do with five picky eaters. Serve with rice or potatoes and some seasonal vegetables. Great for leftovers also.
There are so many ways to change this up one you get the basic recipe down. You can spice it up, spatchcock it, barbecue, rosemary and garlic….the possibilities are endless.
I will be adding more variations to my Recipes pages of my Sunday Chefs blog.
Perfect Roast Chicken
Equipment
- 1 roasting pan I have done this on a baking sheet and a large cast iron pan also.
Ingredients
- 1 7-8 lb. Roaster Chicken
- 1 Lemon half of it sliced and half quartered
- 3-4 tbsp. Softened butter
- Salt and Pepper
- 1 Sprig of Thyme Optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Remove the giblets
- Rinse the chicken inside and out. Pat dry with a paper towel.
- Put the chicken in a heavy duty roaster pan on a rack.
- Salt and pepper (I like to use Kosher Salt) inside and out.
- Loosen the skin on the breasts and insert some lemon slices under it.
- Add the remaining lemon (cut up) into the cavity. You can add a sprig of Thyme here if you want also. Rub the softened butter all over the chicken (Messy but worth it!). Add some water or chicken broth to the bottom of the pan (this helps with broth for soup later on).
- Cook for approximately 2 hours until the juices run clear when the leg is cut or pulled on. (Internal temperature should be approximately 165 degrees fahrenheit at breast and 175 at the thigh).
- Let the chicken sit for a bit before cutting it and Enjoy!